Twitter

EUCARINET 2nd EU-Caribbean Bi-regional Policy Dialogue Meeting

The event marked the final meeting of EUCARINET, a four-year project funded by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation), aimed at strengthening sustainable dialogue on Science, Technology and innovation (STI) between Europe and the Caribbean. During the morning session, participants including researchers, policymakers and representatives of the private sector, saw an overview of EUCARINET project outputs and then went on to discuss and refine strategies and policies that can strengthen collaboration in Caribbean Science, Technology and Innovation, both within the region and with Europe.The event represented an important opportunity to present the final version of the EUCARINET Policy Strategy Paper to promote Caribbean STI excellence to EU researchers and advance the policy and strategic frameworks for cooperation within the Caribbean and between both regions for the period 2014-2020. The future strategic frameworks should be based on priority actions for Caribbean Governments such as supporting strategic alliances in Research and Innovation (e.g. Green Economy, including energy and food security, Blue Growth , Health etc), the establishment of technology transfer offices in the Caribbean Research Centres and increasing the investment in STI to address the relevant existing societal problems of interest for both regions.In the afternoon session, participants learned more about the opportunities to be derived from the European Union’s new seven-year Research and Innovation programme – Horizon 2020, a programme with emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges, open to the participation of all countries in the world. Special guests were His Excellency Mr.Mikael Barfod, EU Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, and Mr Percival Marie, Director General of CARIFORUM.